We end the tour of Dobrogea as we started it, with a visit to a fortress of the Roman Moesian limes that tried to protect the empire from Barbarian attacks. However there are quite a few differences, while Capidava is still on the Danube River here the fortress is two kilometers off due to shifts in the flow of the river. In addition while Capidava received significant influx of money and had a new visitor center and well maintained paths the access here is quite wild. We barely find the entrance and read multiple times the signs to ensure that entry is not prohibited. In fact it is the only archaeological attraction in Dobrogea that has no guardian so after confirming all is kosher in we go.
Right after the entrance we find what must have been the guardian or the archaeologists building, it seems uninhabited for years, but who knows. Unfortunately from an RV nearby there is a dog barking incessantly so we cannot take the most obvious path and we go slightly off directly towards the ruins. Either way the obvious path might have gone to the RV anyway and not to the ruins.
The ruins are not that well maintained and paths are quite haphazard. We follow one and then it ends and we go off trail until we find another one quite weird. Still we enjoy this, we feel like actual explorers discovering a ruin, a ruin there and make assumptions regarding what we see as there is no information anywhere. We now know that Dinogetia was built by the Romans and then destroyed repeatedly by attacks and rebuilt before being finally abandoned in the 12th century.
As we explore we notice a more built up area in the distance and slowly and carefully make our way to it. It seems from a distance like something we have seen at quite a few locations here, a reconstructed section of the fortress.
And that is exactly what it is, a portion of the wall with a few towers has been reconstructed and we can get a better idea of how impressive it must have looked during its heyday.
And it was quite impressive, it is surprising that the Moesian Limes was penetrated so many times given that the fortresses were so impressive and common along the Danube. And then with our last stop of the day finished it is time to return to the car we still have one more possible roadblock today just ahead of us.
And that roadblock is the ferry crossing at Galati. We are not certain how easy it is to cross and given how small the ferries are we are lucky that the passenger car traffic is not that signficant. Even so we are the last car on the ferry and during the whole crossing are stressed what will happen if it will move even an inch as it is surrounded by all other cars. And then to exit we are the first car and we have to go backwards, fun times. Luckily we survive and soon are on our way back to Bucharest for our last day in Romania after a very special visit to this historic region.
